In search of the Original Form of Ardhamāgadhī – Comparison of Textual Readings (Part A)
By K. R. Chandra
Summary
K. R. Chandra’s first study on the original form of Ardhamāgadhī explores how early Jain canonical texts were transmitted and corrupted as they were copied over centuries. Focusing on Chapter 1 of the “Ācārāṅga Sūtra,” Chandra compares variants preserved in three major editions of the text—those edited by Hermann Jacobi, Gustav Schubring and the Mahāvīra Jain Vidyalay series. He catalogues differences in phonology, morphology and vocabulary, noting that scribes frequently updated archaic spellings, replaced unfamiliar words with more common synonyms and occasionally omitted entire verses. These alterations complicate efforts to reconstruct the language spoken during Mahāvīra’s time. Chandra argues that the earliest layer of Ardhamāgadhī shows a transition from Old Indo‑Aryan to Middle Indo‑Aryan: it retains distinctions between short and long vowels, uses consonant clusters like “tr” and “kr” that later merge, and preserves grammatical endings that disappear in later Prakrits. By comparing parallel passages across the three editions he identifies readings that are most likely original because they are shared by all manuscripts and reflect archaic linguistic features. He also discusses how some variants may reflect regional pronunciation differences or deliberate stylistic choices by redactors. The study concludes that critical editions of Jain scriptures must weigh manuscript evidence carefully and that restoring the original Ardhamāgadhī requires synthesising philological analysis with knowledge of historical sound changes.
Conclusion
The first phase of Chandra’s investigation shows that no single manuscript of the Ācārāṅga Sūtra preserves a pure original text. Scribes altered words to match their contemporary speech and occasionally harmonised divergent passages. By collating three critical editions, the author demonstrates how shared archaic readings can guide the reconstruction of the prototypical Ardhamāgadhī. The research highlights the value of comparative philology for recovering early Jain scripture and underscores that textual criticism must account for both linguistic change and scribal intervention.